8 Tips for Crafting a Memorable Customer Experience on Etsy
“Business Hat Surprise”, illustration by Amanda Weedmark
From your welcome message to the unboxing of your items, customer experience is what a customer feels and experiences when shopping and interacting with you.
“It’s the little things that can really go a long way.”
It’s important to make this experience positive and maybe even surprising so that your customer feels good about what they purchased and consider returning to your shop.
Spending the time to craft the experience tends to involve smaller details that may feel trivial and tedious. I feel this is one reason why it’s overlooked by many Etsy shop owners.
However, these details remove “barriers to entry” which makes it easy for the customer to purchase.
“Repetition of information is key to not only helping it stick in the customer’s mind, but to give the customer multiple opportunities to engage with us or learn about our shop”
So while it might take a bit of effort to consider and implement these details, it can really set you apart from your competitors and make your customers feel more comfortable shopping with you.
It can also:
show your customers that you value their business.
build trust.
make you look professional.
offer added value beyond what a customer purchases.
make a memorable impression.
possibly land you repeat business.
help expand your reach through great word of mouth.
To get started in crafting the customer experience for your Etsy shop, here are 8 tips you can implement today to make your customers experience more memorable.
To learn how to setup shop and understand the details of how Etsy works, please review the Etsy Seller handbook. All of the views, opinions, and tips below are based on my personal experience of making 10,000 sales on Etsy. The information below is not endorsed by Etsy or a guarantee of results.
Tip #1: Connect by sharing who you are
Customers want to see behind the curtain.
In the About Your Shop section, you’ll get the opportunity to give your customer a glimpse of who is part of your business and the story behind your business.
Member Tab: Upload a photo of each member and share inspirations, roles, or even something more personal to create a connection with you customer.
Story Tab: What’s your shop’s story? Where did it begin and why? What do you strive for? Why does it matter to your customers? In this section, share your tagline, your shop story, videos, photos, and where to find you online.
This information will appear at the bottom of your shop page.
Tip #2: What your business is about and why it benefits the customer
Customers want to know what type of business they’re supporting and why it’s better or different than the competition.
The Info & Appearance section is where you’ll get to define a lot more shop-related information.
Your shop title is a great place to share your business motto or tagline.
Upload a logo to help brand your shop.
An order receipt banner can share your thanks and social media links which helps with branding.
Connecting some of your social media here can make it easy for your customers to find you elsewhere.
Your Shop Announcement is a spot that should NOT be ignored. Use it to share:
Sales or discount codes
Important notices like shipping delays or ‘order by’ dates for holiday shoppers
Vacation and holiday closures
Social media links
Newsletter sign up links
What you sell, what your business goals are, what the customer can expect
Message to buyers is a great place to say thank you and to reiterate some of the information in the shop announcement section (see above) - just in case they haven’t seen those yet. This might include:
Saying thanks! Letting them know how much they are appreciated.
Links to your main shop, newsletter, or social media.
A request for a review or letting them know you’re available if they aren’t happy with their purchase.
Tip #3: Be clear about your process
Offer clarity and over-communicate information when possible.
Find shop policies and FAQ sections in edit mode at the bottom of your main Etsy shop page.
Have an FAQ section of questions that might (or have) come up the most and fill out your policy section.
Shop policies help set boundaries and let your customers know how you do business. Do you offer returns, refunds, exchanges? What’s your shipping fulfillment times?
Having both will offer clarity for you AND your customer when doing business together.
Tip #4: Get detailed in your listings
The listings pages can be a missed opportunity to share information beyond the item details because we assume customers will have already seen it elsewhere.
(How many times have we already “reiterated” information?)
However, repetition is key to not only helping the information stick but to give the customer multiple opportunities to engage with us or learn about our shop.
Listing Photos
In your listing, you’ll want to use as many as the photo slots as possible to showcase the product.
However, if you can spare it, I recommend dedicating one or two photos to ‘marketing’ which could be:
Newsletter sign up link
Discount code
Social media links
Packaging photos
Studio shots / the making of
Text-only images about your shop or the product
Description
The description is where you can get detailed about your product; Reiterate the size, weight, colors, materials, “made in” note.
It can also be where you tell a story about the “making of” or what inspired you to create it, who it’s for, and the best use of the item.
Additionally, you can include information or links that direct your customer to your:
main Etsy shop home page
social media
wholesale information page
Or, you can reiterate a shortened version of your shop story.
Tip #5: Offer a bonus
A bonus is a great way to encourage a sale or a nice way of saying thanks, after purchase.
You could offer a free small item with their order, like a sticker or a discount if multiple items are purchased, they sign up for your newsletter, or they purchase something.
This gestures could influence their decisions about shopping with you in the future for gifts or on special occasions.
Tip #6: Add your personal touches
“Your personal touches will be the first thing the customer will be greeted with upon opening the box or envelope. Make it count!”
Yay! You’ve made a sale. Now comes the “added touches”.
Consider your packaging and what kind of personal touch you might add to make it feel special.
Need some ideas? In Chapter 1: 5 Strategies for Finding Long-Term Success when selling on Etsy I offer some suggestions and ideas on how to do that.
These touches will be the first thing the customer will be greeted with upon opening the box or envelope. Make it count and make it memorable!
Once the order is ready to ship, mark it complete in the Order dashboard and add a Note to Buyer. Even though it’s optional, it’s a great way to add YOUR voice to Etsy’s messaging.
Additionally, it’s another great opportunity to share your thanks, offer to fix any issues upon delivery, request a review once their order is received, and ask for them to connect with you elsewhere in the meantime.
Tip #7: Handle issues professionally
“Unhappy customers are opportunities for us to improve.”
When you sell anything, you also sign yourself up to deal with customers; Good or bad. You also sign yourself up to rectify any issues that might occur, regardless of why.
Respond ASAP - and thank them
Respond to any issues as quickly as possible and express gratitude for having the opportunity to rectify the issue.
They could have easily not told you, reported you to Etsy, and never shopped with you again. Or worse, not told you, reported you, AND told their circle of friends and family to not shop with you. (Word of mouth is an underrated source of business.)
Unhappy customers are opportunities for us to improve and for you to possibly gain a customer for life.
Help your customer - without judgement or frustration
While it might feel like you’re being attacked for not doing something right, step back and understand their frustration; They ordered something and haven’t received it yet or they ordered something and it wasn’t what they thought they were ordering.
That is frustrating!
Regardless of what the issue might be, help your customer without meeting them with any judgement or frustration; Even if they misread, misunderstood, or missed something completely. Reflect their frustration, clarify things for them, and find a solution that would make them happy.
Remember, a customer may be completely new to the Etsy platform and may not read the full description, look at all your photos, or visit your main shop page.
Staying professional and approaching these situations with compassion will help you de-escalate any anger and help you resolve the situation much easier.
Figure out why the issue happened
Deconstruct why this issue happened in the first place so you can make adjustments to ensure it doesn’t happen to another customer. Are they ways you can fix or clarify things?
Own up to mistakes and fix them
Shop owners make mistakes too! It’s best to own up to them when we do.
To make up for these mistakes, you can offer apologies, a discount, or a full refund - if it suits.
Take a loss if nothing helps
Sometimes a customer will never be happy with what you do or offer. And let’s make that ok instead of trying to fight it.
Offering a full refund will ensure you’re removing yourself from a potentially bad situation and will help you focus on moving forward, and the good customers you have. Taking the loss can sometimes be more beneficial to you in the long run.
Tip #8: Reward for repeat business
Etsy has this wonderful feature where it shows you a repeat buyer with a star. Pay attention to this!
You can choose to give them a repeat buyer discount OR a simple “nice to see you” will give them the sense you’re paying attention and you appreciate their business.
It’s the little things that can really go a long way.
What a customer experiences can really make or break whether or not they return. Implementing these tips above will hopefully offer your customers a great shopping experience and create an opportunity for repeat business.
Let me know if this information helped you or share your own Etsy tips on crafting the customer experience, below!
Stay tuned for the next chapter where we look at taking great listing photos for your Etsy shop.
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